For the Geek in all of us

Historical

Today I’m excited to welcome Jade Lee to the blog! Jade’s latest title, 50 Ways to Ruin a Rake, is out May 5th and marks the beginning of her hilarious new Rakes & Rogues series. To celebrate her new release, Jade is here for a “mini-interview” and has answered a set of three questions for us!

This morning I have an excerpt from Lorraine Heath’s latest The Duke and the Lady in Red, as well as a giveaway for you to enter!

The Duke and the Lady in RedScandalous Gentlemen of St. James #3

By: Lorraine Heath

Releasing April 29, 2015

Avon

Blurb

Sparks fly in the finale of the Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James Place series, as the last wicked rogue meets his match.

When Rosalind Sharpe gains the attention of the deliciously wicked Duke of Avendale, she’s torn between her distracting attraction to the notorious rogue and the knowledge that he—rich as Croesus—is the perfect target for a deception that will put her swindling days behind her.

However, Avendale is no fool. After he discovers the tantalizing lady packing up to leave London with his coins in tow, he confronts her with a scandalous proposition: she can have all the money she requires…for a week in his bed.

This morning I have an excerpt and giveaway for The Devilish Mr. Danvers by Vivienne Lorret! Enter below for your chance to win.

The Devilish Mr. Danvers The Rakes of Fallow Hall # 2

By: Vivienne Lorret

Releasing April 21, 2015

Avon Impulse

Blurb

For the first time in her life, Hedley Sinclair holds the keys to her own future. She’s inherited the crumbling Greyson Park, but the disrepair does nothing to dissuade her. No one will ever lock her up again or attempt to take away what’s hers. No one except Rafe Danvers—the charming, fiendish man from Fallow Hall. He’s determined to claim Greyson Park, but if Hedley isn’t careful, he’ll claim her heart as well.

Under a Painted Sky was such a fun read! The time period is unusual – 1849 America. The adventurous protagonists, Samantha, a young woman of Chinese descent, and Annamae, a runaway slave, disguise themselves as boys and head west from Missouri, hitting the Oregon Trail and pretending to be prospectors. I love anything to do with the Oregon Trail, and this book is exciting, suspenseful, and completely engaging. All I know is that I would never have had the courage to do the things both Samantha and Annamae are forced to do to save themselves after an accident forces them to run for their lives.

I really enjoyed Four Nights with the Duke. The setup is fantastic; 15 year-old Emilia is at a recital, and after retreating to the library, she’s forced to hide from a group of boys who noisily approach the room. Among them is Evander Septimus Brody, the handsome lad she’s fallen in love with. Vander’s mother and Mia’s father are in the midst of a scandalous, not so secret affair, and one of their parents has given Vander The Love Song of E. Septimus Brody, the poem Mia wrote to immortalize her feelings for Vander. Mia is embarrassed and infuriated over the boys’ callous jokes about her poem, and she angrily storms from her hiding place, gives them a set-down, and declares that she would never marry any of them, even if they were the last boys in England.

This morning I have a guest post from Stacy Henrie, as well as a giveaway for A Hope Remembered. Fill out the rafflecopter below for your chance to win!

Most interesting facts you learned while conducting research for A Hope Remembered by Stacy Henrie

1. Most WWI pilots didn’t survive longer than two weeks at the beginning of the war.

2. WWI planes didn’t have parachutes—there wasn’t room for them and they were thought to encourage a pilot to ditch the plane.

3. The Lake District, or Cumbria, has its own language. For example, the mountains there are known as fells and streams are becks.

4. While we most often think of the English upper class as living in or around London or in the surrounding countryside, there were plenty of wealthy families who made their home in the Lake District and had been there for several hundreds of years by 1920. Unlike other countries during the “Roaring Twenties,” Britain experienced tough post-WWI economic conditions. However, this actually ended up helping them later on to weather the effects of the Great Depression better than others.

This morning I have Top 5 from Amanda Scott, as well as a giveaway her latest release, Devil’s Moon!

Top 5 Items in your deadline survival kit by Amanda Scott:

1. a good outline

2. detailed character sketches

3. exhaustively researched historical backgrounds

4. detailed setting notes

5. major scenes drafted, outlined, and finished long before the deadline approaches.

[Thing is, I’ve written and had more than 60 books published, so I don’t think in terms of deadline survival. That is not to say that I’ve never missed a deadline, although I’ve never missed one by much. Careful preparation and disciplined writing take most of the angst out of meeting deadlines.]